City of Gold (2015)

I discovered City of Gold while watching the first episode of Cooking with Jeff, a YouTube cooking show hosted by Jeff Goldblum, as the guest was Jonathan Gold, the first Pulitzer-winning food critic who passed away a month ago. Being quite a foodie myself, I had to check it out. 

Laura Gabber's documentary follows Jonathan Gold around the city of Los Angeles, specifically in its ethnic enclaves where his culinary/food journey started many years ago.

Food, Inc. (2008)

I've seen several documentaries about food and the food industry over the past year, one being the very biased Netflix documentary What the Health that basically tells you to go vegan unless you want to get all the illnesses you can think of, which is why I was a bit sceptical about Food, Inc. but I still decided to check it out.

Starting off by giving facts about how the majority of products we can find in a grocery store is modified, the film examines corporate farming in the United States and how these few big food corporations drastically changed the production of food as their sole goal is to produce large quantities of food at low costs which obviously means huge profits.

Chef (2014)

Genres

Comedy | Drama

Director

Jon Favreau

Country

USA

Cast

Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, Emjay Anthony, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Amy Sedaris, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr., Russell Peters, Jose Caridad Hernandez

Storyline

Frustrated chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) quits his restaurant job and buys a food truck so that he can be artistically free again.

Opinion

As a foodie, I'm ashamed of myself for watching "Chef" only now because it is a fantastic ode to food. As a movie lover, I'm ashamed of myself for watching it only now because it is a charming, entertaining, fun and feel-good dramedy.

Jon Favreau used to be Iron Man's chauffeur, and this is when he proves he's more than just a side character. He's actually Superman, I'd add. He does a fantastic job both directing and acting in this film, but now I'm going to focus on his other role, as the writer.

The story is enjoyable, it moves quickly and so smoothly it doesn't even feel like there's a script -everything just looks incredibly natural - and it will have your attention for the entire running time. There aren't useless plot-points and no needless subplots. Okay, that's not 100% true. Scarlett Johansson's character is kinda pointless and at some point, she disappears like she never even existed. 

And okay, maybe that's not the only problem, in fact the majority of the characters are shallow and underdeveloped, but the film is about the journey of Carl Casper, a journey of self-discovery, redemption and love. It is also about the relationship between Carl and his estranged son Pearcy, and the beautiful friendship he shares with Martin and Favreau delivered all that beautifully.

Like I mentioned earlier, "Chef" celebrates food and the art of cooking and it does that with some beautiful (and touching) scenes, from Carl trying a new menu for the restaurant, to the gold moments he spends in the truck with his son.

And the comedy is fantastic. It is light, slightly vulgar at times, and incredibly hilarious other times, and it's balanced with some clever dialogue and just the right amount of drama. The soundtrack also adds a lot of the film with its funky rhythm. 

The Chef (2012)

Original Title

Comme un chef

Genre

Comedy

Director

Daniel Cohen

Country

France

Cast

Jean Reno, Michaël Youn, Raphaëlle Agogué, Julien Boisselier, Santiago Segura, Salomé Stévenin, Serge Lariviere, Issa Doumbia, Bun Hay Mean, Pierre Vernier, Rebecca Miquel

Storyline

Self-taught aspiring chef Jacky (Michaël Youn) has the talent, but not the luck. Star chef Alexandre Lagarde (Jean Reno) is in danger of losing his reputation, along with his beloved restaurant. Fate brings the two together and helps them along a journey through the intoxicating world of French haute-cuisine. 

Opinion

Not to be confused with Jon Favreau's "Chef", The Chef is a light, simple, entirely predictable, yet very delightful foodie French comedy, seasoned with a touch of romance.

Written by director Daniel Cohen and Olivier Dazat, the film may not be a masterpiece, or original, but the story is well-assembled - though the subplot doesn't working fine -, it aims to tease the molecular cuisine trend - the sequence where Alexander and Jacky dress up as a Japanese nobleman and his geisha to sample his rival's menu is just hilarious -, the love definitely not at first sight between the odd couple - Reno and Youn - serves some good laughs, and their love of food is a good mix for a funny film.

The film is also enhanced by the great performances of Jean Reno and Michaël Youn, whose elastic face remembers a clown's, and by a satisfying supporting cast.